When legendary quarterback Brett Favre announced his return to the NFL from what has become a seemingly annual flirtation with retirement, many second guessed the Minnesota Vikings’ decision to sign “The Gunslinger”. On Sunday, Favre and the Vikings answered those critics in the best way possible-with a lopsided 34-3 beatdown of the Dallas Cowboys. Favre threw 4 touchdown passes in the victory and the Vikings’ defense sacked Dallas QB Tony Romo six times in the blowout.
The venerable Pump Room Restaurant in Chicago is once again a beacon of civilized living. Famously memorialized in the Frank Sinatra song ‘Chicago’, the ‘jumping Pump Room’ was one of the first true fine dining establishments to open in the Windy City at the end of Prohibition. Almost immediately, it became a favorite of celebrities including the biggest stars in entertainment history–Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr, Jackie Gleason, Dean Martin, Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart, Ronald Reagan and Marilyn Monroe is just a very small list of the icons that made it a regular hangout. In the later part of the 20th century, however, it sort of fell off the map as a new wave of gourmet restaurants in the Windy City led by Charlie Trotter reduced it to a historical footnote.
Jean Makoun scored early in the second half to give Lyon a hard fought 1-0 victory in the first leg of their round of 16 Champions League matchup against Real Madrid. The Spanish champions lost for the third straight time on Lyon’s Stade Gerland home field and will now have an uphill battle when the teams meet at Bernabeu to advance to the next round. With the Champions League final slated to be held in their stadium, an exit this early in the competition would be nothing short of an embarrassment for Real Madrid. They’ll need a multigoal victory to assure themselves of advancing to the next round.
Not too long ago, Mark Coleman headlined UFC 109 facing Randy Couture. Several days later, he’s apparently no longer good enough to remain in the UFC at all. On Wednesday, following a lopsided loss to Couture the UFC released Coleman from his contract and cut the veteran heavyweight. Coleman is now free to sign with any other promotion, but at 46 years of age his most likely-and most advisable-course of action is retirement. Fighters seldom do the ‘most advisable’ thing, however, and his actual plans are unknown at the moment.
Brett Favre has been a significant part of the Minnesota Vikings undefeated start the NFL regular season, and on Monday night he finally beat his old team, the Green Bay Packers. Favre passed for 271 yards and three touchdowns as the Vikings prevailed by a 30-23 final score. With the victory, Favre has now defeated all 32 NFL teams during his Hall of Fame career. The Vikings improved to 4-0, while the Packers dropped to 2-2.
Betting preseason NFL games never fails to elicit an irreconcilable difference of opinion among sports betting enthusiasts. Some consider it a very poor wagering opportunity, while others maintain that there’s no better moneymaking opportunity in sports than pro football’s preseason. The truth is probably somewhere between the two extremes–NFL preseason betting must be approached with caution and discipline, but offers the potential to make a tidy profit before the regular season kicks off.
The NBA All Star game was played without a couple of high profile participants this year as the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant and Philadelphia 76ers’ Allen Iverson would not play due to injury. Kobe and ‘AI’ were the latest in a string of injuries to All Star players that also claimed Portland’s Brandon Roy and New Orleans’ Chris Paul.
The BC Lions may have turned the corner after a disappointing 1-4 start to the CFL season. This past weekend, a clearly motivated Lions team defeated the Saskatchewan Roughriders 35-20 to improve to 2-4 in CFL play. The Roughriders dropped to 3-3 in the early going in the CFL season.
Heading into last Sunday, there was a consensus that the New York Giants were the best team in the NFL with an undefeated record, a productive offense and the league’s top ranked defense. The New Orleans Saints made a compelling case to the contrary, however, as they dismantled the Giants to win 48-27 behind yet another MVP-like performance from quarterback Drew Brees. Brees threw for 369 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions as New Orleans kept their record perfect on the season at 5-0. The Giants dropped to 5-1 with the defeat.
South America will host the Summer Olympic Games for the first time in 2016, as Rio De Janeiro, Brazil was awarded the honor on Friday. Rio beat out the US choice of Chicago, Illinois along with Tokyo, Japan and Madrid, Spain to earn the right to host the games. Despite a high pressure effort from the American power elite–including President Barack Obama and TV gabfest queen Oprah Winfrey–Chicago was the first city eliminated from contention. Tokyo was the next to go, before Rio got the nod over Madrid in the final round of balloting.